Two important disciplines support these investigations: digital forensics and cyber threat intelligence.

What Is Digital Forensics?

Digital forensics involves collecting, preserving, examining, and interpreting digital evidence.

Sources may include:

• Computers
• Servers
• Mobile devices
• Storage devices
• Network logs
• Cloud environments
• Email
• Security platforms

Professionals must follow careful procedures so evidence remains reliable.

Evidence Collection

A forensic investigation may require:

• Preserving original data
• Recording timestamps
• Maintaining chain of custody
• Creating forensic copies
• Documenting every action

Changing evidence accidentally can undermine an investigation.

Endpoint Investigation

Security analysts may examine endpoints for:

• Suspicious processes
• File modifications
• User activity
• Authentication events
• Malware indicators
• Persistence mechanisms

Network Forensics

Network forensics analyzes communication between systems.

Investigators may review:

• Packet captures
• DNS activity
• Firewall logs
• Connection histories
• Proxy logs

Networking knowledge is therefore highly valuable.

What Is Threat Intelligence?

Threat intelligence turns information about attackers and threats into insights that help organizations make security decisions.

Analysts may research:

• Threat actors
• Malware
• Campaigns
• Infrastructure
• Vulnerabilities
• Tactics and techniques

Indicators of Compromise

Indicators may include:

• Malicious domains
• Suspicious IP addresses
• File hashes
• Unusual account activity
• Known malware artifacts

Indicators should always be evaluated in context because individual signals may generate false positives.

Threat Hunting

Threat hunters proactively look for suspicious behavior that automated systems may not have detected.

They may analyze:

• Endpoint telemetry
• Identity events
• Network logs
• Cloud activity
• Threat intelligence

Salary Potential

Illustrative U.S. ranges:

Skills Needed

Learn:

• Windows
• Linux
• Networking
• File systems
• Log analysis
• SIEM
• Incident response
• Threat intelligence
• Endpoint security
• Evidence handling

Career Roadmap

Cybersecurity Fundamentals → SOC → Incident Response → Forensics/Threat Intelligence → Labs → Portfolio → Specialist Role

Starting in a SOC is one practical way to build investigative experience.

Training Resources

Explore:

• NIST security publications
• MITRE ATT&CK
• Microsoft security training
• SANS public DFIR resources
• Purpose-built cyber labs

Use only legal training datasets and authorized systems.

FAQs

What does a digital forensics analyst do?

They investigate digital evidence associated with security incidents, legal cases, or policy violations.

What does a threat intelligence analyst do?

They study threats, attacker behavior, vulnerabilities, and campaigns to support defensive decisions.

Is coding required?

Not necessarily, but scripting and data-analysis skills can help.

Can these jobs be remote?

Threat intelligence often lends itself to remote work, while some forensic investigations require access to physical devices or secure facilities.

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